英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

empower (v.)[empower 词源字典]: 1650s, also impower, from assimilated form of en- (1) + power (n.). Used by Milton, Beaumont, Pope, Jefferson, Macaulay, but the modern popularity dates from 1986. Related: Empowered; empowering.[empower etymology, empower origin, 英语词源]
empowerment (n.): 1814, from empower + -ment.
empress (n.): mid-12c., emperice, from Old French emperesse, fem. of emperere (see emperor). Queen Victoria in 1876 became one as "Empress of India."
emprise (n.): c. 1300, "chivalrous endeavor," from Old French emprise (12c.) "enterprise, venture, adventure, undertaking," from Vulgar Latin *imprensa (source of Provençal empreza, Spanish empresa, Italian impresa), from *imprendere "to undertake," from in- (see in- (2)) + prehendere "to take" (see prehensile). Archaic in English; in French now with a literal sense "a hold, a grip."
emptiness (n.): 1530s, from empty + -ness.
emption (n.): late 15c., "purchase," from Latin emptionem (nominative emptio) "a buying, purchasing; thing bought," noun of action from past participle stem of emere "to buy" (see exempt (adj.)).
empty (adj.): c. 1200, from Old English æmettig "at leisure, not occupied; unmarried," also "containing nothing, unoccupied," from æmetta "leisure," from æ "not" + -metta, from motan "to have" (see might (n.)). The -p- is a euphonic insertion.

Sense evolution from "at leisure" to "containing nothing, unoccupied" is paralleled in several languages, such as Modern Greek adeios "empty," originally "freedom from fear," from deios "fear." "The adj. adeios must have been applied first to persons who enjoyed freedom from duties, leisure, and so were unoccupied, whence it was extended to objects that were unoccupied" [Buck]. Related: Emptier. Figurative sense of empty-nester attested by 1960.
empty (n.): "an empty thing" that was or is expected to be full, 1865, from empty (adj.). At first of barges, freight cars, mail pouches.
empty (v.): 1520s, from empty (adj.); replacing Middle English empten, from Old English geæmtigian. Related: Emptied; emptying.
empty-handed (adj.): "bringing nothing," 1610, from empty (adj.) + -handed.
empyreal (adj.): late 15c., "pertaining to the highest heaven," from Medieval Latin empyreus (see empyrean) + -al (1). Confused by early writers with imperial.
empyrean (n.): mid-14c. (as empyre), probably via Medieval Latin empyreus, from Greek empyros "fiery," from assimilated form of en (see en- (2)) + pyr "fire," from PIE root *paəwr- "fire" (see fire (n.)). As an adjective in English from early 15c. The etymological sense is "formed of pure fire or light." In ancient Greek cosmology, the highest heaven, the sphere of pure fire; later baptized with a Christian sense of "abode of God and the angels."
emu (n.): large Australian three-toed bird, 1610s, probably from Portuguese ema "crane, ostrich" (which is of unknown origin), perhaps based on a folk-etymology of a native name.
emulate (v.): 1580s, back-formation from emulation, or else from Latin aemulatus, past participle of aemulari "to rival." Related: Emulated; emulating; emulable; emulative.
emulation (n.): 1550s, from Middle French émulation (13c.) and directly from Latin aemulationem (nominative aemulatio) "rivalry, emulation, competition," noun of action from past participle stem of aemulari "to rival, strive to excel," from aemulus "striving, rivaling" (also as a noun, "a rival," fem. aemula), from Proto-Italic *aimo-, from PIE *aim-olo, suffixed form of root *aim- "copy" (see imitation).
emulator (n.): 1580s, "rival, competitor," from Latin aemulator "a zealous imitator, imitative rival," agent noun from aemulari "to rival" (see emulation). The meaning "imitative rival" in English is from 1650s.
emulgent: 1570s (adj.), 1610s (n.), from Latin emulgentem (nominative emulgens), present participle of emulgere "to milk out, drain out, exhaust" (see emulsion). Related: Emulgence.
emulous (adj.): "desirous of equaling or excelling," late 14c., from Latin aemulus "striving, rivaling," in a bad sense "envious, jealous," from aemulari "to rival" (see emulation). Related: Emulously.
emulsification (n.): 1858, noun of action from emulsify.
emulsifier (n.): 1872, agent noun from emulsify.